Skorpios III Cruises Southern Icefields Chile

[AUSCHI]

Would love to hear of anybody that has made a trip with Skorpios III or Skorpios II in the southern Icefields in Chile.

[owl61]

Would love to hear of anybody that has made a trip with Skorpios III or Skorpios II in the southern Icefields in Chile.

 

I sailed 2x with Skorpios, once on III in 2000 and once on II in 2008. My overall opinion is that it is not a good value. The first on III was fun and the ship had decent facilities although at about $400 per day for a single it was rather expensive back then. When I wanted to repeat the trip with my wife it was no longer doing the same itinerary so I settled on II. Big mistake. Expensive and not much on board activity. The accommodations are not good. I would suggest you investigate other expeditions.

[freddie]

Auschi - You should check out the Skorpios boats carefully. We'd booked a Chilean fjords cruise on them a few years ago and then did a quick walk-though the boat when we were in Puerto Montt about a year prior to the scheduled cruise. We promptly cancelled the cruise, as the facilities were, in our opinion, not reasonably to the standard that one would expect for the rather high tariff. You might want to take a look at Chilean fjords cruises on the new Silversea adventure ship, Prince Albert II, which does a cruise from Ushuaia to Santiago after the Antarctica cruise season, with a number of fjords days. Cheers, Fred

[AUSCHI]

Thank you Freddie. We are actually on Insignia from Buenos Aires/Valparaiso sailing out of Buenos Aires on 22 February 2010. We thought that at the end of the cruise, we would fly back from Santiago to Puerto Natales to join Skorpios so that we could have a more in depth view of the glaciers. Insignia does go around the Chilean Fjords but we thought that going with Skorpios as well we would be going into more inaccesible areas. I will check Prince Albert II.

 

Auschi - You should check out the Skorpios boats carefully. We'd booked a Chilean fjords cruise on them a few years ago and then did a quick walk-though the boat when we were in Puerto Montt about a year prior to the scheduled cruise. We promptly cancelled the cruise, as the facilities were, in our opinion, not reasonably to the standard that one would expect for the rather high tariff. You might want to take a look at Chilean fjords cruises on the new Silversea adventure ship, Prince Albert II, which does a cruise from Ushuaia to Santiago after the Antarctica cruise season, with a number of fjords days. Cheers, Fred

[AUSCHI]

Hi Owl61,

 

Thanks for your comments.

 

We were thinking of sailing with Skorpios III - the reason for going is to get to more inaccessible parts of the fjords and see all the different glaciers up close. Did you get to see them up close. The cost is aproximately AUD $1500.00 per day for a couple which is extremely expensive and we wanted to make sure that we are going to see more than what we will see with the cruise with Oceania from Buenos Aires/to Valparaiso.

 

Cheers

 

I sailed 2x with Skorpios, once on III in 2000 and once on II in 2008. My overall opinion is that it is not a good value. The first on III was fun and the ship had decent facilities although at about $400 per day for a single it was rather expensive back then. When I wanted to repeat the trip with my wife it was no longer doing the same itinerary so I settled on II. Big mistake. Expensive and not much on board activity. The accommodations are not good. I would suggest you investigate other expeditions.

[greatam]

You have three options if you want to get up close and personal to the glaciers.

 

1.Mare Australis-the most "cruise ship" like BUT they have zodiacs onboard, so you can get really, really close to the glaciers. Leaves from either Punta Arenas or Ushuaia-4 or 5 nights.

 

2. Marpatag-a yacht like experience. Small boat that does a 2 night, "Spirit of the Glacier" cruise. Only 14 passengers, but the entire experience is about up close and personal to glaciers.

 

3. Navigmag ferries-from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt-4 and 5 day cruises that concentrate solely on glaciers. NOT fancy, lots of glacier research people take this trip.

 

I have been on Mare Australis-a good experience at a decent price. Not 5* fancy, but IMHO, that is not the purpose of these short cruises anyway. It is to see, study and enjoy things that cruise ships miss entirely. I love zodiacs, but they are not for everyone, especially if you have any type of mobility problem.

 

I plan on going on Navimag this winter IF I get a few days off during one of my 4 SA business trips.

 

I have seen both Navimag and the Leal (Marpatag). While I loved the look of the Leal, the cruise was just too short for my taste. So I hope I will get on the big, unfancy ferry in a few months and see what few have seen. Enjoy!!!

[parischris]

I agree with Greatam. I have sailed on the Mare Australis, and I've seen the Skorpios ships, and there is no comparison. The Skorpios fleet is old and run down - and bear a startling resemblence to a ship wreck further down the fjords near Ushuaia.

 

The Cruceros Australis boats are not cheap, but are well run and the excursions (all included) were great. There were 21 nationalities on board my cruise, which was blessed with good weather, enough to land on Cape Horn. The Via Australis a week earlier was not so lucky, so bear in mind that the Chilean Fjords are not particularly calm stretches of water.

 

Cheers

[owl61]

Hi Owl61,

Thanks for your comments.

We were thinking of sailing with Skorpios III - the reason for going is to get to more inaccessible parts of the fjords and see all the different glaciers up close. Did you get to see them up close. The cost is aproximately AUD $1500.00 per day for a couple which is extremely expensive and we wanted to make sure that we are going to see more than what we will see with the cruise with Oceania from Buenos Aires/to Valparaiso.

Cheers

 

Boy AUSCHI, it sounds like you really don't want to be dissuaded by the likes of freddie or me. I thought we were pretty negative, but you don't seem convinced. Let me give it another shot.

 

I am not sure of the current Skorpios III itinerary. Check it's web site. http://www.skorpios.cl/ingles/. Last year Skorpios II traveled round trip for 7 nights from Puerto Montt down to the glacier in the Laguna San Rafael with stops in a couple of small towns and the owner's private island reserve. When you arrive at the lagoon, they take you out in small motor boats to within a mile or so of the glacier. There they chip off some 30,000 year old ice from the chunks floating in the vicinity. The ice, formed that long ago, it is totally free of contaminants. They use the ice to chill 12 year old whiskey served in a souvenir glass (as if you needed a chilled drink in that environment). You pray that the glacier calves a lot while you are there, which it usually does thanks to global warming. The accomodations and entertainment on Skorpios II were bad. The food was okay. Excursions, wine and drinks are inclued in the cruise price.

 

Skorpios III is not likely to be better now than when the ship was new 9 years ago when I was on it... and then it was not that good. I note the price for the III now runs over US$ 700 per day per couple. For that price you can go on the Silversea Prince Albert II which I gotta believe would be several orders of magnitude nicer in every conceivable way. The Prince Albert is also equipped with zodiacs for up close glacier examination.

 

By the way, anyone considering taking the Navimag ferry from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt or vice versa referred to in greatam's bullet point # 3 above should very carefully research this journey. I did it in 2000 going from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt. In a word, it was horrible. You do not get to see much in the way of glaciers - something to do with the inside passage route. We were bunked dormitory style 4 or more to a cabin, with one ill-equipped bathroom. Towels were hard to come by. The "beds" were like bad camp bunks. The food was inedible and there was nothing to do onboard. Back then it cost about US$100 per night which means they were getting $400 a day for the cabin etc. What a ripoff!

 

There was an employee on board whose responsibilites included passenger comfort and he tried to organize some activities for the 70 or so of us passengers. The captain, a grouchy lech who hit on one of the young females (she told me he comped her trip), fired him mid "cruise." The passengers, myself included, couldn't believe it so we circulated a petition I drafted stating that the fired employee was the best thing about the trip and all of us would be willing to vouch for him. Almost all of us signed it (except the captain's wench and one or two others) and we gave it to the employee for a reference. What a nightmare those 4 days were! If this ferry experience hasn't changed drastically, it is not a trip for civilized persons.

 

p.s. I note that parischris has just now confirmed my opinion too.

Edited August 19, 2009 by owl61

[greatam]

By the way, anyone considering taking the Navimag ferry from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt or vice versa referred to in greatam's bullet point # 3 above should very carefully research this journey. I did it in 2000 going from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt. In a word, it was horrible. You do not get to see much in the way of glaciers - something to do with the inside passage route. We were bunked dormitory style 4 or more to a cabin, with one ill-equipped bathroom. Towels were hard to come by. The "beds" were like bad camp bunks. The food was inedible and there was nothing to do onboard. Back then it cost about US$100 per night which means they were getting $400 a day for the cabin etc. What a ripoff!

 

There was an employee on board whose responsibilites included passenger comfort and he tried to organize some activities for the 70 or so of us passengers. The captain, a grouchy lech who hit on one of the young females (she told me he comped her trip), fired him mid "cruise." The passengers, myself included, couldn't believe it so we circulated a petition I drafted stating that the fired employee was the best thing about the trip and all of us would be willing to vouch for him. Almost all of us signed it (except the captain's wench and one or two others) and we gave it to the employee for a reference. What a nightmare those 4 days were! If this ferry experience hasn't changed drastically, it is not a trip for civilized persons.

 

p.s. I note that parischris has just now confirmed my opinion too.

 

I hope this reflects an older experience. Although I know the ferry is NOT a luxury experience, the Evangelista is supposed to have 2 bed, ensuite rooms and the trips are much more dedicated to glacier exploration instead of just transportation in the Lake/Patagonian District. Navimag, as well as being a huge cargo carrier, now has a "tourist" division, recommending kayaking trips, trekking trips, etc. etc. I will have to check this out more thoroughly. I thought the experience would be much like the Alaska ferry. Thanks for the heads up

[Lirio]

I would do Via Australis or Mare Australis which are very good ships and in my opinion. Better than Skorpions.

[Extraordinaire]

Hello:  I note all these reviews were many years ago...any more up-to-date reviews?  We are going to Patagonia this November, 2019.  Please leave any info here!  All suggestions & tips are appreciated.

[scubacruiserx2]

1 hour ago, Extraordinaire said:

Hello:  I note all these reviews were many years ago...any more up-to-date reviews?  We are going to Patagonia this November, 2019.  Please leave any info here!  All suggestions & tips are appreciated.

 

Before we did our cruise to Antarctica in December we did this Gourmet glacier day cruise .

 

 

It went to this one and 2 other glaciers

 

 

We also got very close to many icebergs

 

 

You can read all about the trip here on page 2 part way down and page 3 :